Genre: nonfiction
Secondary genre: science/biology
Format read: ebook
Rating:

Read the blurb, Sophie. 

Seriously, this is another case of me checking out a book based on the cover and title, and not paying any attention to the actual content of the book. 

In my defense, the subtitle mentions Dracula and DNA, so I thought it was going to be very different. Instead, what I got was an 8th grade level biology book. 

That being said, if you maybe missed the unit on genetics, or just want to brush up on some basic bio, this would be a good book to pick up. It’s quite short (the audiobook is only 2 hrs) and explores breakthroughs from around the world regarding blood, biology, and genetics. 

However…it is highly simplified for the target audience, to the point that some of the more complex subjects aren’t explained correctly. It was published in 2012, so some of the information may have changed in the last 7+ years. 

And one bit of a spoiler alert: While the cover does mention Dracula, he’s barely a footnote in the book. The chapter on “vampires” focuses on blood consuming animals, such as mosquitoes, bed bugs, and vampire bats. 

All it all, I found it to be a let down, but for someone coming at it from another angle with no background in biology, it might be a good basic primer to pick up.